Fish-handling mechanism.



F. D. CLEVELAND.

FISH HANDLING MBGHANSM. 112211101111011 'FILED 11011.15, 1911.

,@49208 Patented Dec. 31, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. l

F. D. CLEVELAND.

FISH HANDLING MEGHANISM. ABPLIGATION HLED 11011.15, 1911.

,@iga Patented 1111311912 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

the gear remove UNITED sTATEs PATENT oiiEioE'VI FISH-HANDLING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

1,049,208. ratenteanee. 31,1912.'

Application filed November 15, 1911. Serial No. 660,437.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the drawings, 5 is a hollow drum consisting of an outer rim 6 provided with per- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known t at I, FRANCIS D. CLEVE- LAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vinchester, in the county vof Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have inforations 7, 7, said rim having two iaiiges Vented new and useful Improvements iii 8 and 9 projecting inwardly therefrom. The Fish-Handling Mechanism, of' which the folflange 8 has fastened thereto a gear l0 by lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for handling fish, the object of the invention being to take a mass of fish and subdivide said mass into fractional portions thereof iii order that the fish may be eventually delivered one by one to mechanism for cutting off the heads and tails of the same.

In handling fish and presenting the same to mechanism for cutting off the heads and tails, it is very desirable and, in fact, essential to the proper Working of the cutting machine that the fish should be fed to it regularly or in equal numbers during a certain given time, and in fact it is very desirable that the fish should be fed to the cutting machine one by one.

The invention, while particularly adapted to be used for separating from a mass o fish fractional portions thereof and feeding the same in substantially equal quantities to a cutting machine, may also be used for feeding said fish to other mechanisms than a cutting machine where it is desirable that equal quantities of fish should be delivered in equal periods of time, such, for instance, as in fiaking machines'wliere it is desirable that the fish should be fed in equal quantities during equal periods of time and preferably one by one to a mechanism which will place them arranged evenly upon Hakes in order that they may be dried.

To these ends my invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and particularly' pointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a lan view of my improved fish handling mechanism partly brokenaway and shown in section. Fig. 2 is a front elevation-of the same, also broken away. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2, `with 1 Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustra-ting the arrangement of-chutes means of which it may be rotated, said gear and drum being rotatably mounted upon a shaft 11.

A series of buckets 12, 12 adapted to coiitain fish are arranged around the interior of the drum 5 adjacent to the outer rim" 6. rFliese buckets are preferably concavo-convex, the concave side being on the inner side of the bucket or that side in which the fish is deposited. Said buckets are arranged within the drum 5 and extend across Ythe interior of said drum adjacent to from the flange 8 to the flange 9.

A chute 13 leads into the interior of the drum 5 through an annular opening 14, this chute terminating, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, adjacent to the inner edges of the buckets 12, 12. A guard 15 extendsdown- Wardly from the delivery end 1G of th'echute 13.v This guard 15 is preferably concentric with the drum 5 and is llong enough to eX- tend across the edges of' two adj acentbuckets.V f

The drum 5 is rotated inthe direction of the arrow a and the fish are dumped. from the buckets 12 12 onto a chute 17. That portion 18 of the chute 17 located within the drum 5 and constituting an inlet ofthe chute V17 has inclined sides 19 and '20,' as seen in Fig. 2,' and vertical front and back plates 21 and 22, respectively,

U-shaped portion 23 which is inclined at a slight angle downwardly and preferably has inclined sides 24 and 25 and a rounded bottom portion 26. The Width of the chute 23 at the rounded bottom portion 26 is less than the length of the shortest fish which are to be handled by said handling mechanism. y y The chiites-13 and 23 are both provided with Water by means of suitable pipes 27 and 28, respectively, controlled by valves 29 and 30.

whereby the fish are subdivided from a mass Adjacent to and beneath the 'outletv end into fractional portions thereof. 'Fig 5 is 31 of the chiite 23 are located a pair ofy a erspective vieWo a modified form of Vshaped chutes 32 and 33, said U-shaped divided chute. chutes being divided one from the' rim 6 said inlet portion 18 of said chute 17 leading into the f the other by 11 partition 34, said partition being substantially vertical and acting as a separator, whereby, as the fish pass out of the end 31 5 of the chute 23, they are separated into substantially equal portions one of said portions then passing into the chute 32 and the other into the chute 33. The partition 34 in addition to the fioating or moving of the fish, acts to cleanse them, so that the drum 5 acts not only as a segregator or device for 70 separating equal fractional portions of fish from a mass, but also acts as ameans for washing the fish and for conveying away the loose scales, blood, dirt and the c ute 23 or in alinement with a vertical plane like. The fish now having been delivered to 75 equal probability of the fish going into either of the chutes 32 or 33, and, as a mat- (see Fig. 4) into the auxiliary chutes 32 and 33, the adjacent sides of said chutes 80 tice that the fish coming down the chute 23 32 and 33 forming a partition 34 which 1s livered to the chutes 32 and 33 in substan- 85 l tially equal portions.

It will be noted in Fig. 4 that the chutes 32 and 33 are shown as broken away. These chutes in practice are made of great length as compared with their width, the same be- 90 lng oftentlmes used 1n lengths of twenty divided in the same manner and any numcutting machine or on a fiaking machine, or wherever it may be desired to conductl the fish in equal quantities. v

e general operation of the mechanism herelnbefore described is as. follows: Fish ow from the outlet end 16 of said chute and deliver them one by one from the out- 95 let ends of the chutes. The fish are carried along by the Water in these slightly inclined chutes in such a manner that if two of them are side by side` one will force his way ahead, due to the fact that it is very seldom 100 that two fish are exactly the same size and sha-pe and the wedge shape of the fish causes one to force its way ahead of the other in the Water, and this, together with chute 13, as illustrated in Fig. 2. When one of these buckets is full and passes upwardly and so on. The shield 15 prevents the fish from overflowing the bucket immediately beneath the outlet end of the chute 13 and thus falling into the lower port of the drum and orming a mass of fish in said lower 1n pairs leading from the outlet end of another conveyer, results in the fish being finally delivered practically one by one to any receptacle or machine desired.

It will be understood that the fish in com- 110 t e opening 14. Forinstance, referring to paratlvely large quantities and varying 1n Flg. 2, the bucket which has just passed by is lled with fish and the fish are then delivered from the chute 13 into the bucket w ich is just below the outlet end 16 of said chute, and as this bucket passes upchute 23 in substantially equal numbers and 115 Wardly and is lled with fish, the next l in equal spaces of time. Further it will be understood that as the buckets pass upwardly from the chute 13, the angle of the bucket to a vertical plane, by reason of the rotation of the drum, changes and a portion 120 sh. Said buckets are then carried updumped in substantially equal quantities and at equal: intervals of time upon the inlet portion 18 of the chute 17 and slide down said inlet portion into the U-shaped portion 23.

It will be understood that water is delivered tially the same number to the chute 23. during this operation both to the chute 13, In Fig. 5 I have illustratedr amodified through the pipe 27, and to the chute 23 I form or arrangement of a chute 23 and the through the pipe .28z and water flows out divisional chutes. 32 and "33, and by refere5 through the perforatlons '1, 7 in the rim of ence to said ligure it will bel seen that the 130 as some buckets may ave more in them than others when they first leave the outlet end of the chute 13', each one delivers subst-an- 125 the arrangementof the U-shaped conveyers l down the divided chutes 32 and 33 from which pass down the chutes 32 and 33. In

that the inlet ends of the chutes 32 and 33 what I claim and desire by Letters Patent ing of an outer rim and two flanges proleading into the interior of said drum and two adjacent buckets and a chute leading combination, a hollow rotary drum consistadapted to deliver fish into said buckets in a horizontal direction radial to said drum, and a chute leading out ofsaid drum into which said buckets are adapted to deliver fish.

3. A device for subdividing a mass `of fish into fractional portions thereofv having, in combination, a hollow rotary drum embodying in its construction an outer rim and twoV flanges projecting inwardly therefrom, a se- 60 ries of buckets adapted to contain fish arranged around the interior of said drum adjacent to saidouter rim and between said flanges, a chute leading into the interior of said drum and terminating in a radially extending portion within said drum with its delivery edge extending adjacent and substantially parallel to the inner edges of said buckets and adapted to deliver fish toward the said rim and into said buckets and a chute leading at of the interior of said drum into which said buckets are adapted to -deliver fish.

4. A device for subdividing a mass of fish chute 23' delivers the fish into two chutes 32 and 33 which are divided by a partition 34', said partition 34 starting at the bottom of the chute 23 at 342 increasing in height 5 until it forms the partition 34 between the two chutes 32 and 33. The operation o' this divided chute is substantially the same as that illustrated in Fig.. 4-that is, a substantially equal number of fish will pass the chute 23', by reason of the partition 34 acting as a dividing means for separating the entire mass of fish coming down the chute 23 into fractional portions thereof each of these two forms of divisional chutes illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen however, that the partitions 34 and 34 .respectively perform the same function an are adjacent to the outlet end of the chute 23', although not located directly beneath said outlet end.

Having thus described my invention,

combination, a hollow rotary drum consisting of an outer rim and two flanges projecting inwardly therefrom, a series of buckets adapted to contain fish arranged around the interior of said drum adjacent to said outer rim and between said anges, a chute leading into the interior of said drum and terminating in a radially extending portion within said drum with its delivery edge exto secure 1s:

1. A device for subdividing a mass of fish into fractional portions thereof having, in combination, a hollow rotary drum consistjecting inwardly therefrom, a series of buckets adapted to contain fish arranged around the interior of said drum adjacent to said outer rim and between said flanges, a chute to the inner edges of said buckets and adapted to deliver fish toward said rim and into said buckets, a guard extending downwardly from the delivery end of said chute adjacent to and adapted to extend across the inner edges of two adjacent buckets and a chute leading out of the interior of said drum into which said buckets are adapted to deliver fish.

adapted to deliver fish into said buckets, a guard extending downwardl from the delivery end of said chute adjacent to and adapted to extend across the inner edges of out of said drum into which said buckets are adapt-ed to deliver fish.

2. A device for subdividing a mass of fish into fractional portions thereof having, in

my hand in presence of two subscribing witing of an outer rim and two flanges pronesses.

jecting inwardly therefrom, a series of buckets adapted to contain fish arranged around the interior of said drum adjacent' to said 50 outer rim and between said flanges, a chute extending into the interior of said drum and FRANCIS D. CLEVELAND.

Witnesses:

CHARLES S. GooDINo, SYDNEY E. TArfr.

into fractional portions thereof having, in 75 tending adjacent and substantially parallel85d In testimony whereof I have hereunto set A 

